The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-02-10
rather stay and take my medicine than

rather stay and take my medicine thar
do that"
Never mind about that. Bill. Tall
low and we will arrange the plan.
will cut your ropes and give you m,
knife. In the morning | will b.
found asleep, my knife taken. and yor
gone. When you go down the canor
take my mule. Be sure about it. fol
my life may depend upon that. He i.
the dun-colored one near the stream
he wears horse-hair halter. You can,
miss? him, but be careful. Then max,
your way north. Bill, sell the mule
and deposit the money to my credit in
San Francisco" The ropes were GU
and Bill was free, and. while thanking
d. and nearly crushing his hand il
saying good-by, y. said to him
"Bill, want to ask you one question
more-did you steal that mule?" Yes
| did. Frank. Good-by and God bles.
you for this He made his way
stealthily down the canon and was off
As morning dawned on the camp and
the miners began stirring they naturall,
looked to see their prisoner. There
was d. fast asleep on the ground. hi.
knife taken, the ropes cut and lying Al
the foot Of the tree. and thu
prisoner gone. There was great OK
citement. Two or three ran
to D., roughly shook him. and
with much profanity, asked hin
- he
escaped. d. rubbed his eyes in sleepy
sort of way. jumped to his feet excited
", and told the miners that the prisoner
must have seen him fall to sleep. then
had carefully taken his knife withou,
waking him, cut his ropes and gone
The men were very much enraged
D. was made prisoner. Some wen,
SO far as to say that ID. ought to swing
in the outlaws place. and from being
the best liked man in the camp he be-
came an object of contempt. III.
seemed to feel very bad; he looked
mortified and heartbroken over hi.
trouble.
A pursuing party had been sent out
but Bill had three hours start. and ii
soon came back unsuccessful but with
the agreeable news that the outlaw had
stolen DIS mule, and they all said il
served him right The loss Of bis owr
mule allayed all suspicion against d.,
if any had existed. and he was soon re.
leased with severe reprimand for his
carelesness. But rs ID. told ME after.
ward, once or twice he was pretty anx
ious, for he did not know what his en-.
ragged comrades would do.
A month ago saw D., in New York
where he now resides, and in the
course of our conversation l said t.
him: ..As matter of curiosity, ID.
did You ever get your money for youl
mule?' Yes" said d.. ..about six
months later the sum Of $3.50 was de.
posted to my credit in San Francisco
BY person unknown to the bank, and
five years later continued D., going
to the safe, and handing me letter
| received this letter. which have al
ways kept rs proof that Bill was too
good a man to hang"
MAYORS OFFICE.-, Jan. 4, 1856
My Dear Friend Frank: made my
escape as You know. and sold your
mule for $225. 1t was the best coulc
do, Frank. / was being hunted and
could not wait for higher prices. | go,
the money and scraped together 81
more and left it In Frisco for you
The f25 was for the use of the mule
he was good one. l then came here
and have staid. l am well off and an
respected as good citizen. AS shown
by my election as Mayor last year
You saved my life, my dear friend
when deserved to die. 80 don't be Of
Tended Frank, when l tell you that il
you or yours are ever in want of ,
home or need dollar you can alway,
have mine and always count on every
cent have in the world. Your CRATE
full friend. WILLIAM S.
l finished the letter and looked at ID.
whose eyes were moist as he said
Yes. and that man is one Of the mos
prominent. respected, and infuentia
citizens in tho Northwest today" ."-Nes
York Times.